KyleMiller Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) Trip: Mt Aix - Standard Approach Date: 5/9/2009 Trip Report: This is my first post to CC but I have been scoping out beta for along time. Hopefully I can return the favor to some of you climbers this season. Mt Aix is the sleeping Giant of the Central Cascades relatively unknown but rivaled in size only by the massive Goat Rocks. Mt Aix is in what you would consider the middle of nowhere from Washington standards. The 90 mile summer drive is more then doubled when 410 closes down for winter leaving the area isolated and unused. From Crystal Mountain you can get a distant view of the massive alpine bowls of Aix and the Nelson Range that rise over 800 feet higher then the top of Crystal. Aix had become somewhat of an obsession for me over the years as I studied approaches and access issues of the mountain. Trying to get beta was all but impossible as trying to get any skiing info was dead end after dead end, The question kept coming up in my head “why isn’t anybody heading out to the Nelson Range”. View of the Nelson range and Mt Aix from the top of the Silver King at Crystal Mountain. We skied the high point on the left side of the pic and the huge alpine bowl to its right Thanks to Boot from Turns all year for the photo The forecast was looking good with Mostly sunny skies on the Eastern side of the Cascades and according to the Forest service the road was plowed all the way to the Mt Aix trailhead Saturday was going to be the day. Friday night I met up with Ian and Scott at the North Bend Safeway and made the 190 mile drive all the way around the Eastern side of the cascades then back into the Central cascades and camped a few miles from the trail head. The next morning we woke up under the early morning sun, stuffed our sleeping bags into the car and drove up towards the trailhead. The forest Service was wrong the road was not plowed to the Aix trailhead it was only plowed to Bumping Lake there were two options 1. Abort or 2 go for it but to me number one was not an option. The slog fest up the road was an uneventful 4 and a half miles getting deeper into the Nelson range before finally hitting the Mt Aix trailhead. Once we reached the trail we lost it within the first 5 minutes and proceeded to bushwhack up the semi densely forested slopes. The bushwhacking proceeded for a couple of brutal hours until we decided to make a downhill traverse into the beginning of the alpine. Our first real view of point 7495 during the bush whacking Photo by Jeff Finally breaking into alpine terrain photo by Jeff Ian skinning with Rainier in the background Photo by Jeff Once in alpine travel was so much faster and efficient as the terrain mellowed out and you could actually the best areas to put in a skin track. We skinned up to a low saddle and finally got our first view of Mt Aix and the huge alpine bowls that surrounded it. Our first view of Mt Aix Photo by Ian Looking South at Bismark peak, the goat rocks and Mt Adams Photo by Ian The whole area was a corn skiing heaven with enough room to fit all of the Ski resorts in Washington in the three alpine bowls surrounding Mt Aix. Only one of the three massive bowls (looking North) Photo by Ian During the ridge scramble to the summit I had spotted a skiable line off the NW face of Mt Aix it was sketchy and looked like it was close to melting out but at the moment it was skiable. Photo by Ian After nailing the summit and taking in some of the best views in Washington we switched our gear over to downhill mode and one by one rode down the NW face for well over 2000 vert of alpine skiing. Summit Group photo Photo by Jeff Rainier photo by Jeff Another one of the Massive alpine bowls (looking South) Photo by Jeff I am officially stoked about this line Photo by Ian Looking back up the face from halfway down Photo by Ian Riding down into the basin Photo by Jeff Once arriving in Rattlesnake basin we switched back over to skinning mode and returned back to Nelson ridge for our final decent back to the car. Jeff skinning up rattlesnake basin Photo by Ian Ian skinning to the low saddle photo by Jeff Peak 7495 had caught my attention on the way up and was easily accessible with an additional 30 minute skin so Ian and I made the ascent while Jeff stayed behind and took in the views of bumping lake and Rainier. Photo by Ian We noticed a small choking colouir that exited onto a huge alpine ramp “this was going to be the line”. Scoping the line photo by Jeff I dropped in first not knowing how shallow the snowpack was and if I was going to hit a rock so I straight lined it and ripped down the massive Northern face. Photo by Jeff photo by Jeff Photo by Jeff photo by Jeff Looking back up at our tracks Photo by Ian We met up with Jeff 2000 vert lower for the decent back down to the road and made the decision to follow the creek until it was impassable then boot pack the rest of the way. Luckily we were able to meet up with the trail and after countless switchbacks we were back to the road for the 4.5 mile slugfest back to the car. We made it back to the car around 8pm. As the first drops of rain started falling so we threw our gear into the car and made a quick getaway. We dropped Jeff off at his car in Cle elum while Ian and I drove up the North fork of the Tenaway River to tackle our next beast Mt Stuart on Sunday. We made it to a camp ground around 11:00 p.m. and passed out until 5:30 a.m. and drove the additional 4 miles to the Beverly Creek trail head and started packing our gear. I started putting my skins on my split when all of a sudden SNAP and as soon as the trip began it was over. Photo by Ian In total the trip was around 20 miles Ians Trip report http://students.washington.edu/climb/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=4855&p=26815#p26815 Gear Notes: Skins, Skis and unlimited amount of Energy to burn Approach Notes: 4.5 mile slog just to the Mt Aix trailhead Edited May 13, 2009 by KyleMiller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlpineK Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Cool! I've looked at those peaks from Crystal. They look even better close up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letsroll Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 nice trip. looks like future trip. Thanks for the porn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidk Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 thanks for this outstanding contribution! Welcome to CC.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jshamster Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Dude! I've been riding a splitty for 10 years and never seen one snap like that. I'm assuming a previous injury to the board caused it to snap while putting skins on? Nice pics. Cheers. Jimbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlon Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) Excellent report with exceptional photography. cheers marlon Edited May 13, 2009 by Marlon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cman Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Did you go up the road towards the ingalls trailhead? i was wondering how close you can get to it right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleMiller Posted May 14, 2009 Author Share Posted May 14, 2009 No but we did make it all the way to the Beverly Creek trailhead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rad Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 This is a fabulous shot. Thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Piston Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Thanks for the great photos and trip report. I've done this in the fall and never considered it as a winter trip. It will have to be on my to-do list now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCamKenny Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Beautiful scenery! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobo Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Me and a buddy from my Mountain Rescue unit ripped Nelson Ridge on our teles for years until I moved to the Tri-Cities. Nice shots, and thanks for letting out the secret... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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